Uploaded December 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
On Dec. 31, 2018, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered orbit around asteroid Bennu — setting new records for the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft and the closest orbit of a planetary body by any spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx will remain in orbit until mid-February 2019 when the spacecraft will begin a series of flybys that allow it to conduct a more detailed survey of the asteroid's surface. It will enter orbit a second time in mid-2019.
Check out all of OSIRIS-REx's asteroid operations: asteroidmission.org/asteroid-operations
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13123
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher
On Dec. 31, 2018, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered orbit around asteroid Bennu — setting new records for the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft and the closest orbit of a planetary body by any spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx will remain in orbit until mid-February 2019 when the spacecraft will begin a series of flybys that allow it to conduct a more detailed survey of the asteroid's surface. It will enter orbit a second time in mid-2019.
Check out all of OSIRIS-REx's asteroid operations: asteroidmission.org/asteroid-operations
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13123
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher
